Advertisement

Amanda Knox says she now has her life back - and that she is lucky. She was reacting after a court in Rome cleared her of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. Meredith's mother said she was "surprised and very shocked" at the verdict.

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have had had their murder convictions overturned by Italy's highest court, bringing to an end their legal battle following the brutal death of British student Meredith Kercher.

Here is a timeline of the case:

Meredith Kercher was found dead in November 2007 in her bedroom in Italy.

2007

November 2nd 2007: Meredith Kercher, a 21-year-old exchange student from Coulsdon, Surrey, is discovered with her throat cut in her bedroom at her house in the Italian town of Perugia. Her body is partially clothed and under a duvet.

November 6th: Police arrest Ms Kercher's American housemate Amanda Knox, then 20, Raffaele Sollecito, then 23, and Congolese Diya 'Patrick' Lumumba, who runs a local bar. The three are held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit manslaughter and sexual violence.

November 19th: A fourth suspect is named as Rudy Hermann Guede, 20, from the Ivory Coast. He is thought to have left Perugia for Milan after Ms Kercher died.

November 20th: Guede is arrested in the German city of Mainz. Lumumba is released without charge.

November 22th: Guede admits being in Ms Kercher's house on the night of the murder but says an Italian man killed her.

September 9th 2008: Guede's lawyers say he will ask to be prosecuted separately from Knox and Sollecito in a fast track trial after talk of a possible pact between the former lovers to frame him.

October 28th: After 11 hours of deliberation, Judge Micheli sentences Guede to 30 years for the murder of Ms Kercher. He also orders Knox and Sollecito to stand trial for murder and sexual violence. Judge Micheli later rules that the pair remain in prison while they await trial.

2009

January 16th 2009: The trial of Knox and Sollecito begins.

June 12th: Knox gives evidence in fluent Italian. She says she accused Lumumba "in confusion and under pressure" and that a police officer hit her during interrogation.

December 4th: Knox and Sollecito found guilty of murder. Knox is sentenced to 26 years and Sollecito to 25.

2010

November 24th 2010: Knox and Sollecito return to court in Perugia for their appeal.

December 16th: Italy's highest criminal court upholds Guede's conviction and sentence, which was cut to 16 years in his first appeal.

June 27th 2011: Guede gives evidence for the prosecution in the appeal and confirms the contents of a letter he wrote to his lawyers in 2010, which included a direct accusation against Knox and Sollecito.

July 25th: Experts tell the appeal court that forensic scientists who helped convict Knox made a series of errors. They claim evidence was tainted by the use of a dirty glove and failure to wear protective caps.

October 3rd: Knox is freed from prison after being acquitted of killing Ms Kercher. Sollecito is also cleared.

2012

February 16th 2012: Publisher HarperCollins announces it has signed a deal for a Knox memoir which was reportedly worth $2.5 million. The book, Waiting To Be Heard, is released in April 2013.

Amanda Knox appeared on US television to plead her innocence. Credit: Reuters/Andrew Kelly

September 30th: The third trial of Knox and Sollecito begins in Florence.

December 17th: Knox declares her innocence in an email submitted to the appeal court in Florence by her lawyers before their closing arguments in which she says: "I didn't kill Meredith."

2014

January 30th 2014: The pair are found guilty of the murder of Ms Kercher after judges in Florence overruled their previous acquittals. Knox is sentenced to 28-and-a-half years and Sollecito to 25 years.

2015

March 25th 2015: Italy's high court hears Knox and Sollecito's appeal of the Florence conviction.

March 27th: After lengthy legal arguments Italy's supreme Court of Cassation overturns the conviction and declines to order another trial. This is the final ruling in the case.

Advertisement

Amanda Knox has said she is "tremendously relieved" after being finally acquitted of the 2007 murder of her former British roommate Meredith Kercher.

Amanda Knox, seen during an interview in 2014. Credit: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

The American student issued a statement after learning of Italy's top court's decision to overturn a lower court's guilty verdict handed down last year.

I am tremendously relieved and grateful for the decision of the Supreme Court of Italy. The knowledge of my innocence has given me strength in the darkest times of this ordeal. And throughout this ordeal, I have received invaluable support from family, friends, and strangers. To them, I say: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your kindness has sustained me. I only wish that I could thank each and every one of you in person.

– Amanda Knox

Her family also issued a statement thanking people for support during the lengthy legal battle.

We want to express our profound gratitude to all of those who have supported Amanda and our family. Countless people – from world-renowned DNA experts, to former FBI agents, to everyday citizens committed to justice – have spoken about her innocence. We are thrilled with and grateful for today’s decision from the Supreme Court of Italy. And we are grateful beyond measure for all that so many of you have done for her.

American Amanda Knox will find out if her conviction for murder has been upheld. Credit: Reuters/Andrew Kelly

An Italian court's decision on whether to uphold the convictions of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher is due to be made today.

Italy's highest court had been expected to reach its decision on Wednesday but closing arguments took longer than expected.

Ms Kercher, a 21-year-old from Coulsdon, Surrey, was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in her bedroom in 2007 while studying in Perugia, Italy.

Her flatmate Knox, a student from Seattle in the US, and Knox's then-boyfriend Sollecito spent four years in jail for the murder but were acquitted on appeal in 2011.

Knox returned to the US before an appeal court threw out the acquittal and reinstated her and Sollecito's guilty verdicts last year.

Italy's Supreme Court in Rome must decide if it finally upholds those convictions.

A spokeswoman for the court said: "The public hearing will continue at 9am, when one of the lawyers of the appeal will intervene. The panel of judges will go into chambers and then deliver their verdicts."

Assistant Attorney General Carlin from the US Justice Department said that two men "allegedly conspired to provide material support to ISIL and planned to travel overseas to support the terrorist organisation".

In a statement, Carlin said: “In addition, they plotted to attack members of our military within the United States. Disturbingly, one of the defendants currently wears the same uniform of those they allegedly planned to attack. I want to thank the many agents, analysts, and prosecutors who are responsible for disrupting the threat posed by these defendants.”